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STORY: UN/ HUMAN RIGHTS EXECUTIONS
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.27
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 27 OCTOBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
27 OCTOBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions:
“My concern is that these drones, these predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The onus is really on the government of the United States to reveal more about the ways in makes sure that arbitrary executions, extrajudicial executions are not in fact being carried out through the use of these weapons.”
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5. SOUNDBITE (English) Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions:
“Either, the video is a fake, in which case, congratulations to the government of Sri Lanka, they have not, their armed forces have not committed these offences and they should not be criticised for them, or the video appears to reasonably be authentic and therefore there needs to be an investigation into it.”
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions:
“I think that MONUC’s work is going to become increasingly unsustainable in a variety of ways unless and until it can demonstrate that it’s taking a much stronger line in relation to these allegations of human rights violations. And I think that the process, the machinery that it’s currently in place is not at all adequate.”
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9. SOUNDBITE (English) Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions:
“I have had a request into the government of Israel for a number of years now to visit. I have never got a response from the government of Israel to those requests. As I said I think that when allegations reach a certain threshold it is not sustainable for a government to say either, we are not going to investigate, or we are going to appoint some friends of the army to investigate.”
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A top United Nations human rights official today (27 October) sharply criticized those governments who refuse to allow independent investigations into alleged human rights violations.
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston expressed concern over the use by the United States of unmanned drone aircraft in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which he said “may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law."
He added that the onus is on the government of the United States to demonstrate that “extrajudicial executions are not in fact being carried out through the use of these weapons” and lamented that the US government has so far failed to cooperate with the Human Rights Council in this matter.
Turning to Sri Lanka and allegations that its forces carried out extrajudicial executions against ethnic Tamils after a video depicting the killings surfaced on British television, the Special Rapporteur said that if the video “appears to reasonably be authentic” an independent investigation must be conducted.
Alston, who recently visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, said that the work of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African nation “is going to become increasingly unsustainable” unless it can demonstrate “that it’s taking a much stronger line” in relation to allegations of human rights violations.
He added that “the machinery that it’s currently in place is not at all adequate.”
Regarding the Goldstone Report which alleges that Israel committed international humanitarian law and international human rights law violations during its Gaza offensive in January, Alston said that “when allegations reach a certain threshold it is not sustainable for a government to say either, we are not going to investigate, or we are going to appoint some friends of the army to investigate.”
He pointed out that Israel has for many years refused to welcome an official visit by the Rapporteur.
